Stuart_F

Here is a good tutorial-based primer on the algorithms/math behind mapping and location-finding using LIDAR: SLAM for Dummies.
The authors do a really nice job of wading through the jargon and presenting the SLAM in an approachable manner. It does have code examples, but they are written in C#. However, the examples are pretty straight forward, and shouldn’t be too difficult to port into your language of choice.

After reading the comments on here, I planned to replace the filter capacitors per Tim’s suggestion. That turned out to be a better decision than I had originally thought. Once I opened the supply up (and prior to plugging it in for the first time), I discovered the 12V rail filter capacitor (1000uF, 16V) was already popped. According to Tim, when the power supply is left connected to the mains supply with no load, the 12V rail can rise to 18V and the 5V can go to 8V on a 250V main supply (he’s from Australia). These are over the rated voltage for the 12V filter capacitor (probably explaining why it was blown when I got it) and close to the rated voltage of the 5V filter capacitor (1000uF, 10V) respectively. To cover my bases, I’m replacing both with capacitors rated for 25V before I ever plug it in. I’ll try to give an update once they arrive and I get them swapped out.

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